A New Stable Bubble Element for Incompressible Fluid Flow Based on a Mixed Petrov–Galerkin Finite Element Formulation

A new mixed Petrov–Galerkin formulation employing the MINI element with a non-confirming bubble function for an incompressible media governed by the Stokes equations, which is equivalent to the stabilized finite element by P ¹-P ¹ approximation, is proposed. The new formulation possesses better stability properties than the conventional Bubnov–Galerkin formulation employing the MINI element. In this aspect, the stabilizing effect of this formulation is evaluated by a stabilizing parameter determined by both shapes of the trial and the weighting bubble functions.     

Thermodynamic laws and consistent Eulerian formulation of finite elastoplasticity with thermal effects

Recently it has been demonstrated that, on the basis of the separation D=D^e+D^p arising from the split of the stress power and two consistency criteria for objective Eulerian rate formulations, it is possible to establish a consistent Eulerian rate formulation of finite elastoplasticity in terms of the Kirchhoff stress and the stretching, without involving additional deformation-like variables labelled “elastic” or “plastic”. It has further been demonstrated that this consistent formulation leads to a simple essential structure implied by the work postulate, namely, both the normality rule for plastic flow D^p and the convexity of the yield surface in Kirchhoff stress space. Here, we attempt to place such an Eulerian formulation on the thermodynamic grounds by extending it to a general case with thermal effects, where the consistency requirements are treated in a twofold sense. First, we propose a general constitutive formulation based on the foregoing separation as well as the two consistency criteria. This is accomplished by employing the corotational logarithmic rate and by incorporating an exactly integrable Eulerian rate equation for D^e for thermo-elastic behaviour. Then, we study the consistency of the formulation with thermodynamic laws. Towards this goal, simple forms of restrictions are derived, and consequences are discussed. It is shown that the proposed Eulerian formulation is free in the sense of thermodynamic consistency. Namely, a Helmholtz free energy function in explicit form may be found such that the restrictions from the thermodynamic laws can be fulfilled with positive internal dissipation for arbitrary forms of constitutive functions included in the constitutive formulation. In particular, that is the case for the foregoing essential constitutive structure in the purely mechanical case. These results eventually lead to a complete, explicit constitutive theory for coupled fields of deformation, stress and temperature in thermo-elastoplastic solids at finite deformations.     

A Dorodnitsyn finite element formulation for laminar boundary layer flow

The Dorodnitsyn boundary later formulation is given a finite element interpretation and found to generate very accurate and economical solutions when combined with an implicit, non-iterative marching scheme in the downstream direction. The algorithm is of order (Δ²u, Δx) whether linear or quadratic elements are used across the boundary layer. Solutions are compared with a Dorodnitsyn spectral formulation and a conventional finite difference formulation for three Falkner-Skan pressure gradient cases and the flow over a circular cylinder. With quadratic elements the Dorodnitsyn finite element formulation is approximately five times more efficient than the conventional finite difference formulation.     

Gradient-enhanced softening material models

Classical constitutive models exhibit strong mesh dependency during softening and the numerical responses tend towards perfectly brittle behavior upon mesh refinements. Such sensitivity can be avoided by adopting the gradient-enhanced formulation. The implicit approach incorporates the gradient contributions indirectly via an additional Helmholtz equation and requires only C⁰ continuity. The explicit approach computes the gradient terms directly from the local field variables. Assuming a weak satisfaction of the yield function, C¹ continuity or C⁰ continuity with additional degrees of freedoms in the penalty approach is required. This makes the explicit method less attractive computationally. However, the explicit approach is able to fully regularize some material models where the standard implicit method fails to perform. Drawing analogy to the over-nonlocal integral formulation, the over-implicit-gradient framework is proposed. In addition, an alternative framework for the explicit gradient method requiring only C⁰ continuity is proposed. The regularizing effects of the abovementioned two gradient frameworks show promising applications to strain-softening materials.     

Trigonometric function used to formulate a multi-nodal finite tubular element

It is presented an alternative formulation to solve the problem of the deformation analysis for tubular element under pinching loads. The solution is based on a new displacement field defined from a total set of trigonometric functions. The solution is developed in a multi-nodal finite tubular ring element with a total of eight degrees of freedom per section considered. The purpose of this paper is to provide an easy alternative formulation when compared with a complex finite shell element or beam element analysis for the same application. Several case studies presented have been compared and discussed with numerical analyses results reported by other authors and the results obtained with a shell element from a Cosmos/M^® programme.     

Extended Lagrangian formalism and the corresponding energy relations

In this paper an extended Lagrangian formalism for the rheonomic systems with the nonstationary constraints is formulated, with the aim to examine more completely the energy relations for such systems in any generalized coordinates, which in this case always refer to some moving frame of reference. Introducing new quantities, which change according to the law τ_a=φ_a(t), it is demonstrated that these quantities determine the position of this moving reference frame with respect to an immobile one. In the transition to the generalized coordinates qⁱ they are taken as the additional generalized coordinates q^a=τ_a, whose dependence on time is given a priori. In this way the position of the considered mechanical system relative to this immobile frame of reference is determined completely.Based on this and using the corresponding d'Alembert–Lagrange's principle, an extended system of the Lagrangian equations is obtained. It is demonstrated that they give the same equations of motion qⁱ=qⁱ(t) as in the usual Lagrangian formulation, but substantially different energy relations. Namely, in this formulation two different types of the energy change law dE/dt and the corresponding conservation laws are obtained, which are more general than in the usual formulation. So, under certain conditions the energy conservation law has the form E=T+U+P=const, where the last term, so-called rheonomic potential expresses the influence of the nonstationary constraints.Afterwards, a detailed analysis of the obtained results and their connection with the usual formulation of mechanics are given. It is demonstrated that so formulated energy relations are in full accordance with the corresponding ones in the usual vector formulation, when they are expressed in terms of the rheonomic potential. Finally, the obtained results are illustrated by several simple, but characteristic examples.     

Mathematical Justification of the Obstacle Problem in the Case of a Shallow Shell

This paper deals with the asymptotic formulation and justification of a mechanical model for a shallow shell in frictionless unilateral contact with an obstacle. The first three parts of the paper concern the formulation of the equilibrium problem. Special attention is paid to the contact conditions, which are usual within two or three dimensional elasticity, but which are not so usual in shell theories. Lastly the limit problem is formulated in the main part of the paper and a convergence result is presented. Two points are worth stressing here. First, we point out that unlike classical bilateral shell models justifications, the functional framework of the present analysis involves cones. Secondly, while the cones result from a positivity condition on the boundary as long as the thickness parameter is finite, leading to a Signorini problem in the Sobolev space H ¹, the cone results from a positivity condition in the domain, giving rise to a so-called obstacle problem in the Sobolev space H ² at the limit.      

Applications of the dual integral formulation in conjunction with fast multipole method to the oblique incident wave problem

In this paper, the dual integral formulation is derived for the modified Helmholtz equation in the propagation of oblique incident wave passing a thin barrier (zero thickness) by employing the concept of fast multipole method (FMM) to accelerate the construction of an influence matrix. By adopting the addition theorem, the four kernels in the dual formulation are expanded into degenerate kernels that separate the field point and the source point. The source point matrices decomposed in the four influence matrices are similar to each other or only to some combinations. There are many zeros or the same influence coefficients in the field point matrices decomposed in the four influence matrices, which can avoid calculating the same terms repeatedly. The separable technique reduces the number of floating‐point operations from O((N)²) to O(N log^a(N)), where N is the number of elements and a is a small constant independent of N. Finally, the FMM is shown to reduce the CPU time and memory requirement, thus enabling us to apply boundary element method (BEM) to solve water scattering problems efficiently. Two‐moment FMM formulation was found to be sufficient for convergence in the singular equation. The results are compared well with those of conventional BEM and analytical solutions and show the accuracy and efficiency of the FMM. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solution of the equations of a regular electrostatic beam in the presence of emission from an arbitrary surface

An analytic solution of the equations of a regular electrostatic beam in the presence of emission from an arbitrary surface under total space charge conditions is given. It is assumed that the emitter is a coordinate surface x¹= const in an orthogonal system xⁱ (i=1, 2, 3), and the emission-current density J is a given function J(x², x³). The solution is represented in the form of series in x with coefficients that are functions of x², x³ and determined from recurrence relations. In expansion along the length of an arc of the curvilinear axis x¹, which is orthogonal to the emitter, the first correction of the Child-Langmuir 3/2 law is determined only by the total curvature (the sum of the principal curvatures) of the emitting surface. Solution of the problem in the formulation in question permits determination of the collector shape that ensures the given distribution of the emissioncurrent density over the given surface.     

Investigation of solution of Navier–Stokes equations using a variational formulation

A variational formulation for the solution of two dimensional, incompressible viscous flows has been developed by one of the authors.¹ The main objective of the present paper is to demonstrate the applicability of this approach for the solution of practical problems and in particular to investigate the introduction of boundary conditions to the Navier-Stokes equations through a variational formulation. The application of boundary conditions for typical internal and external flow problems is presented. Sample cases include flow around a cylinder and flow through a stepped channel. Quadrilateral, bilinear isoparametric elements are utilized in the formulation. A single-step, implicit, and fully coupled numerical integration scheme based on the variational principle is employed. Presented results include sample cases with different Reynolds numbers for laminar and turbulent flows. Turbulence is modelled using a simple mixing length model. Numerical results show good agreement with existing solutions.     

A comparative study of crack propagation models for PMMA and PVC

An analysis of examining the validity of a unified approach proposed earlier by the authors for the fatigue crack propagation (FCP) of engineering materials to include PMMA and PVC is described. The proposed formulation has been shown capable of characterizing a diversified range of materials with a master FCP diagram and expressed as da/dN = A(ΔG)^m/(G_c − G_max).An experimental program is undertaken to measure fatigue growth rate with the standard compact tension specimen. The FCP results are for the first instance analysed for each material using the unified formulation. The validity of the formulation for producing a master FCP diagram is verified when the fatigue crack growth rates of the materials are successfully characterized in one master diagram, yielding an excellent coefficient of correlation of 0.993. No such success is attained using a number of conventional FCP laws considered most acceptable to characterize polymeric materials.     

Spallation analysis with a closed trans-scale formulation of damage evolution

A closed, trans-scale formulation of damage evolution based on the statistical microdamage mechanics is summarized in this paper. The dynamic function of damage bridges the mesoscopic and macroscopic evolution of damage. The spallation in an aluminium plate is studied with this formulation. It is found that the damage evolution is governed by several dimensionless parameters, i.e., imposed Deborah numbersDe ^* andDe, Mach numberM and damage numberS. In particular, the most critical mode of the macroscopic damage evolution, i.e., the damage localization, is determined by Deborah numberDe ^*. Deborah numberDe ^* reflects the coupling and competition between the macroscopic loading and the microdamage growth. Therefore, our results reveal the multi-scale nature of spallation. In fact, the damage localization results from the nonlinearity of the microdamage growth. In addition, the dependence of the damage rate on imposed Deborah numbersDe ^* andDe, Mach numberM and damage numberS is discussed. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10172084, 10232040, 10232050, 10372012, 10302029) and the Special Funds for Major State Research Project (G200077305)     

Efficient meshless SPH method for the numerical modeling of thick shell structures undergoing large deformations

The objective of this paper is to present an extension of the Lagrangian Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to solve three-dimensional shell-like structures undergoing large deformations. The present method is an enhancement of the classical stabilized SPH commonly used for 3D continua, by introducing a Reissner–Mindlin shell formulation, allowing the modeling of moderately thin structure using only one layer of particles in the shell mid-surface. The proposed Shell-based SPH method is efficient and very fast compared to the classical continuum SPH method. The Total Lagrangian Formulation valid for large deformations is adopted using a strong formulation of the differential equilibrium equations based on the principle of collocation. The resulting non-linear dynamic problem is solved incrementally using the explicit time integration scheme, suited to highly dynamic applications. To validate the reliability and accuracy of the proposed Shell-based SPH method in solving shell-like structure problems, several numerical applications including geometrically non-linear behavior are performed and the results are compared with analytical solutions when available and also with numerical reference solutions available in the literature or obtained using the Finite Element method by means of ABAQUS^© commercial software.     

A nodal Godunov method for Lagrangian shock hydrodynamics on unstructured tetrahedral grids

We present a nodal Godunov method for Lagrangian shock hydrodynamics. The method is designed to operate on three‐dimensional unstructured grids composed of tetrahedral cells. A node‐centered finite element formulation avoids mesh stiffness, and an approximate Riemann solver in the fluid reference frame ensures a stable, upwind formulation. This choice leads to a non‐zero mass flux between control volumes, even though the mesh moves at the fluid velocity, but eliminates volume errors that arise due to the difference between the fluid velocity and the contact wave speed. A monotone piecewise linear reconstruction of primitive variables is used to compute interface unknowns and recover second‐order accuracy. The scheme has been tested on a variety of standard test problems and exhibits first‐order accuracy on shock problems and second‐order accuracy on smooth flows using meshes of up to O(10⁶) tetrahedra. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal analysis of composite superconductors subjected to time-dependent disturbances

A one-dimensional heat conduction equation with time- and temperature-dependent heat sources was employed to study the steady-state and transient response of a composite superconductor subjected to a thermal disturbance. An integral formulation was used to solve the steady-state problem of current redistribution and heat generation. The results of the integral formulation are compared with those of an analytical solution. The two solutions agree with each other except when the analytical solution fails as the temperature in the superconductor begins to exceed the critical temperature. Transient solutions were obtained by the finite-difference technique and the results are compared with a known analytical solution. Results of numerical calculations of the transient response of a composite superconductor subjected to an initial pulsed disturbance are presented. It is demonstrated that the superconductor can switch between the superconducting and the current-sharing state. The transient response and the stability of the composite conductor depend on the magnitude and duration of the disturbance, the dimensionless temperature θ^*, and the dimensionless parameter φ. Received on 18 November 1996     

An h4 accurate vorticity-velocity formulation for calculating flow past a cylinder

A method of solution for the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow past a cylinder is given in which the euquation of continuity is solved by a step-by-step integration procedure at each stage of an interative process. Thus the formulation involves the solution of one first-order and one second-order equation for the velocity components, together with the vorticity transport equation. the equations are solved numerically by h⁴-accurate methods in the case of steady flow past a circular cylinder in the Reynolds number range 10–100. Results are in satisfactory agreement with recent h⁴-accurate calculations. An improved approximation to the boundary conditions at large distance is also considered.     

An extension of the SIMPLE based discontinuous Galerkin solver to unsteady incompressible flows

In this paper, we present a SIMPLE based algorithm in the context of the discontinuous Galerkin method for unsteady incompressible flows. Time discretization is done fully implicit using backward differentiation formulae (BDF) of varying order from 1 to 4. We show that the original equation for the pressure correction can be modified by using an equivalent operator stemming from the symmetric interior penalty (SIP) method leading to a reduced stencil size. To assess the accuracy as well as the stability and the performance of the scheme, three different test cases are carried out: the Taylor vortex flow, the Orr‐Sommerfeld stability problem for plane Poiseuille flow and the flow past a square cylinder. (1) Simulating the Taylor vortex flow, we verify the temporal accuracy for the different BDF schemes. Using the mixed‐order formulation, a spatial convergence study yields convergence rates of k + 1 and k in the L²‐norm for velocity and pressure, respectively. For the equal‐order formulation, we obtain approximately the same convergence rates, while the absolute error is smaller. (2) The stability of our method is examined by simulating the Orr–Sommerfeld stability problem. Using the mixed‐order formulation and adjusting the penalty parameter of the symmetric interior penalty method for the discretization of the viscous part, we can demonstrate the long‐term stability of the algorithm. Using pressure stabilization the equal‐order formulation is stable without changing the penalty parameter. (3) Finally, the results for the flow past a square cylinder show excellent agreement with numerical reference solutions as well as experiments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An inviscid model of unsteady aerofoil flow with fixed upper surface separation

Presented in this paper is a new method for the prediction of unsteady, incompressible separated flow over a two-dimensional aerofoil. The algorithm was developed from an existing unsteady potential flow model¹ and makes use of an inviscid formulation for the flow field. The aerofoil is represented by vortex panels of linearly varying strength which are piecewise continuous at the corners. Discrete vortices with finite cores are used to model the separating shear layers. Following a brief summary of unsteady separation modelling, the theoretical framework is presented and the subsequent numerical implementation is discussed in detail. Results are given for flows which tend asymptotically to the steady state and conclusions are drawn regarding the usefulness of the method.